SCAMP odds and ends . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Continuing on with the post-build, uhhh . . . . . build. 
Installed a privacy curtain in the veranda.
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And added some hooks to hold the rolled-up curtain.
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Makes for a much neater appearance. 
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Made use of the almost an after-thought cushion loops I had sewn into my cushions, so that I could secure them in the (unlikely!)    event of capsize.
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Nothing like getting ready to launch, to show up all the last-minute things you had been MEANING to do  . . . . . . and hadn't actually done. 
Installed the pad-eyes for a Cajun-style tiller tamer, but had never rigged the tiller tamer line and shackles.
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Easy enough to correct. 
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And since everything on a small boat has to do double-duty, it is also the rudder restraint for trailering, to keep it from banging around on the road.
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During last week's launch, I managed to bust a hatch latch. 
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Since that hatch is over one of the LFP batteries, it's not something where you'd want to see a whole lot of water get aboard. 
And I realized I had no Duct Tape aboard, to fix such a problem!! 
Promptly went out and bought a roll of tape and stored it in the spares locker. 
Back home again, I tracked down the hatch manufacturer and got two replacement latches ordered.

On Urchin, the Bimini top straps went forward to the side shrouds. 
To board or disembark from a dock, you had to disconnect one of the straps and flip it on top of the Bimini top, then step aboard.
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(Straps deliberately twisted, to prevent oscillating and vibrating.)

Had the same arrangement on Short Ribs, my RIB.
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Shown here with forward straps attached.

You have to flip a strap out of the way, to get in and out (easily).
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Shown here with one strap flipped on top of the Bimini top.

Back when I was building the Irish Pennant, I felt I had no good reason to change things.
(Other than not having any side shrouds, with which to attach the forward straps!) 
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And resigned myself to flipping a strap out of the way, for boarding/disembarking. 
Like this:
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Then it occurred to me, that the strap geometry might support leaving an entrance/exit boarding space, if I moved the pad eye aft, near the midships cleat.
The first thing I did was to cut a hardwood backer block to go under the ¼-inch Okoume plywood deck as a backing reinforcement.
Kind of tough to do when the boat's already finished, and it was about to get even tougher. 
It didn't fit. 
Between all  the electrical wiring (on both sides), rub-rail mounting screws and nuts, and the tight fit of the coamings, there was NO way I was going to be able to epoxy-coat a block and then glue it underneath the deck.
There wasn't even a way to position it, in such tight quarters. 
My fall-back plan, was to use two pieces of ¹/₈" aluminum bar stock, to make ¼" Thick  X 1½" Wide X 4" Long,  metal backing plates.

So I drilled the ³/₁₆" pad eye holes, then over-drilled them to ½":
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Put in some towels to avoid any epoxy and/or subsequent paint spillage, on the EVA foam decking.
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Filled  the holes with thickened epoxy:
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After curing, sanded the filled holes smooth:
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Touched up the holes with some paint:
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And with a great deal of grunting, maneuvering, and cursing,    got the 10-24 machine screws in place.
View from underneath. 
The extra holes, were because the first attempt was too close to one edge, to fit.
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That's the midships cleat hard wood backing block to the right, in the above pic.

But I finally got it done! 
There was a whole LOT of effort,    underneath that simple pad eye.
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But the pay-off was worth it, because I no longer have to take off and put back on, the Bimini top strap for boarding/disembarking.
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Just step in. 

Another lack I discovered on Launch Day, was that I had neglected to install the reefing nettles. 
Encountered the issue, when one of my inadvertent tacks, tried to balloon out my two reefs, under the boom.
So I added the nettles:
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My wife came home from a garden club meeting, while I was working on the 15(!)    reefing nettles.
"What are you doing?"    She asked.
"Making reef nettles", I replied.
"So you basically, like to turn big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood and you ALSO like to turn long pieces of rope, into little pieces of rope?" 
Hmmm . . . .    Never thought about it in quite that way before,    but I guess you could call  it: Nautical Entropy, as a hobby. 

With all my repairs, fixes, upgrades/improvements caught up, now I'm just waiting for the new trolling motor to show up and then I'm going to go out and try it again; this time: solo. 

Charles Brennan

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

"So you basically, like to turn big pieces of wood into little pieces of wood and you ALSO like to turn long pieces of rope, into little pieces of rope?" 

We teacher spend a lot of time turning big pieces of paper into little pieces of paper.

Noemi